Role of Touch in Referral of Thermal Sensations
Hsin-Ni Ho, Junji Watanabe, Hideyuki Ando, Makio Kashino
Talk
Last modified: 2008-05-13
Abstract
When presenting simultaneous thermal and tactile stimulations on different skin sites, referral of thermal sensations occurs such that illusory thermal sensation is perceived at the site of tactile stimulation. Here, we investigated the role of touch in referral of thermal sensations with a psychophysical approach. One thermally neutral and two warm/cold stimulators were used to provide tactile and thermal stimulations. They were presented to three digits within one hand and the referred thermal sensation was induced on the digit in contact with the neutral stimulator. The location of the neutral stimulator varied from trial to trial and the magnitude of the referred thermal sensation was estimated based on participants’ performance in discriminating the neutral stimulator from the warm/cold stimulators. The results indicate that warm referral occurred readily with simultaneous thermal and tactile stimulations regardless of the location of the tactile stimulation. As for cold referral, besides simultaneous thermal and tactile stimulations, it further required the tactile stimulation being surrounded by the thermal stimulation, which suggests the involvement of filling-in of cold sensation. Our findings indicate although cold and warm senses are sub-modalities of thermosensory system, their interactions with the tactile modality can be distinct.